Question: If I want to rank for a keyword do I just need to get heaps of links for that keyword back to my site?

This is definitely Fiction. The Search Engines have been dramatically improved their algorithms to more accurately gauge the relevance of a website to compared to certain keywords. There is a stronger emphasis on the Branding and Authority of your website and in many instances sites that focus on links that are Keyword Stuffed have greatly decreased in their Search Engine exposure. The key is to ensure you focus on a natural, diversified links that make sense.

Question: If I have ever engaged in any activities that could violate the Google Guidelines is there a chance this could affect my Search Engine Visibility?

This is Fact. Whilst Google have not clearly stated this is the case, an interview in early 2014 from 2 ex Google employees stated that Google do look at your entire online history and use this to judge your overall appearance in their search engine. As they are continually releasing additional updates, some of these updates are designed to identify a specific strategy that violates their guidelines.

Although you may have stopped engaging in the specific activity years ago, the remaining presence of this activity may have an impact on your search visibility and in many cases you have to remove and reverse the activity to increase your positions search engine visibility.

Question: Is Low cost overseas SEO just as good as working with a local Australian company?

This is generally Fiction. When it comes to SEO the age old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ is usually true. The unfortunate reality is overseas services usually use old school SEO techniques that actually do more harm than good to your site.

To this day we still receive emails recommending old school SEO techniques that we know for a fact will damage your SEO but still sound good to the unsuspecting business owner that remembers people talking about doing SEO this way.

Question: Is SEO and Google all about getting my keywords ranked and staring daily at where I appear for those keywords in the top 10 positions for the big keywords?

This is Fiction. The end result of successful SEO campaign is to increase the number of targeted visitors to your site and to implement methods that will improve their interaction with your business.

There are many instances where we help clients to get traffic not only for a handful of keywords they would like to target, but also for other keywords that visitors are looking for in relation to the clients product or service. Whilst it is important to have KPI’s in place for every SEO campaign, those KPI’s should focus on other areas around actual conversion (getting a customer).

As an example if you were to receive 100 visits a month for ‘Plumber Brisbane’ with a conversion of 5% to client it would mean you would 5 customers a month. As an alternative if you were to receive 20 visitors a month for ‘Emergency Burst Pipes Repair’ and converted 50% (due to the targeted nature of the keyword), you would end up with 10 customers compared to 5 customers of the other keyword that attracted more volume.

When it comes to keywords, the focus should really be around the traffic and conversions as oppose to the position for your site in the Search Engines.

Question: If I do nothing to my website from an SEO perspective, will it impact my overall SEO presence?

This is Fact. Google release algorithm updates on a regular basis and lately (the last few years) have linked these updates to a specific animal. In the when you look at the quality and relevance of your website, Google use what they call Panda to assess if they consider your site to be relevant to your target market.

Some of the determining factors the search engines consider are:

Quality and relevance of content

Supporting content and structure

The URL’s of your pages and how these are structured

The correct use of page titles, the use of headlines and bolding

User engagement

There are many other factors that come into play and it’s important to be aware that a well run SEO campaign considers your website and how you choose to engage and offer value to your website visitors.

Question: Is SEO is a magic turn key solution where you I pay you to do all of the work for me?

This is Fiction. The best run SEO campaigns are where the business is involved with ideas and improvements to the site along with conversations around off page opportunities where both the SEO and the Business can engage in or work together in actioning.

A business owner will have established relationships with other like minded businesses that may have a strong online presence and the SEO can act as a guide on the best way to approach this from an SEO perspective. We actually work with many clients in this way as when they are actively engaged they can find awesome opportunities and we ensure the opportunity is going to give them the maximum benefit.

Question: Is SEO Dead?

This is Fiction and Fact. The old form of SEO is definitely ineffective and if you are still doing it the old way (spinning content, low quality volume backlinks, poorly structured URL’s and websites) then your time is numbered and you will continue to scratch your head wondering why what you did before isn’t working now.

It’s important to think how you can offer value to your visitors and to position your business as an authority in your industry. When you do this and consult with your SEO advisor you’ll understand

Question: Does it take SEO a few weeks to get a result with SEO?

This is Fiction and Fact. If you are thinking about getting ranked in a few weeks for your target keyword you’re only considering one part of the overall picture. Whilst you may gain fairly quick Search visibility, it’s more important to consider what those visitors are doing when they arrive and how you can get them to follow your path to success.

Another important point is SEO is a part of an overall strategy. The old saying of ‘placing all of your eggs in one basket’ is true in any business and is the same when it comes to online and offline marketing. It is important to use multiple strategies in any business to attract leads and sales to ensure you are diversifying how you are attracting your business.

At Online Specialists we understand the importance of multiple strategies and we invite you to contact us to better understand which strategies will work best for your online presence.